Roos blew it

[Nico]

Bevan J Bolton ,Mcveigh and Crouch all just stand there when they get a mark. Too slow to swing around and run off to deliver to a moving target. Makes us look extremely slow. We put no pressure on opponents all over the ground except in close in scrum type situations and we have stopped getting to those contests.

Have a look at Geelong, they never stop moving.

[NMWBloods]

Yes, I noted a while ago that we rarely play on from marks or free kicks. We slowly and methodically try to work the ball around. Means our forward line gets crowded.

[Sanecow]

Back on the topic of Roos blowing it, Buchanan probably should have played.

[jaffa]

Yep, but sometimes teams just match up on other teams really well.
Having said that, probably the biggest gripe I have about this season is the players' lack of ability to find clear space.
Teams seem to find this easy against us, yet every time we kick it to a player there is an opposition player right next to them.
Hall is a pretty big culprit, given what we expect from his fitness level, but he seems to have been injured all season.

Maybe this comes down to coaching, maybe players natural ability to read the game, probably a combination of both.

Roos will work through this and grow as a coach.
He DID bring us a flag and I for one am willing to cut him some slack.

I agree that Roosey needs to start playing more of our young players and I think that a few of the boys out there last night may have played their last game in the red and white.

Yes Roosey is going to have to go back to the drawing board and change things up but I do believe that he has the ability to do this. I expect that next season will be a bit slow but it will be the rebuilding year and lets hope that the Swans members will be patient and give them the chance.

[mcs]

lol Jaffa you obviously havent heard Roos comments today on the radio and or what the article says on the website- he is not going to change anything substantial by the sounds of it and still thinks in his own little fantasy world that the current squad can do the job when it should be blatantly obvious that it cant.

[CureTheSane]

IMHO this just shows players aren't running hard enough. To make a lead as a vaiable option for a teammate, it has to be a sprint, to get the 2-3m clear of an opponent, now a 70% speed run. We see it alllll the time when trying to move the ball up the ground and why we're regularly called to play on, we just don't run hard enough into space to create options.

Goodesy is probably the only exception to this observation.

Yep, and I remember a time recently when all the Swans had to do to steal a game was wait until the 4th quarter when the opposition would tire because they couldn't keep up with the super fit Swans.
for that reason I have avoided questioning the Swans' fitness levels, but it may be a big issue.....

[Mike_B]

Yep, and I remember a time recently when all the Swans had to do to steal a game was wait until the 4th quarter when the opposition would tire because they couldn't keep up with the super fit Swans.
for that reason I have avoided questioning the Swans' fitness levels, but it may be a big issue.....

I don't know if its fitness in general, but more the specific type of training they do. Glenn Archer was saying on On The Couch that the Roos had changed their fitness training from short, sharp burst work to more endurance work which was helping them run games out better. So maybe the Swans need to find a better balance between the endurance (that they obviously have) and sharper burst work.

[Nico]

I don't know if its fitness in general, but more the specific type of training they do. Glenn Archer was saying on On The Couch that the Roos had changed their fitness training from short, sharp burst work to more endurance work which was helping them run games out better. So maybe the Swans need to find a better balance between the endurance (that they obviously have) and sharper burst work.

So pray tell how you will get more pace into the legs of one J Bolton who just jogs around until he finds himself on his own, picks a cheap uncontested mark then stands there like a Myer dummy, and says to himself "what do I do now, what is this thing in my hands".

When he does have to chase he falls over when he eventually gets to the contest so he doesn't get found out as the totally unskilled player he is.

[dann]

the reality is that everyone of the rules has been designed to benefit teams who play "pure" 1970s footy - ie one on one high flying marking contests and this simply isn't us

we are a side who needs stoppages because one on one our defenders cant defend and the majority of our midfielders cant actually get the ball

Very well put. In 2003-2006 the Swans evolved a playing style which was the contested, grinding football style that favored their high fitness levels, and efficiency in scoring. This was the 'best example' of the defensive approach to football that had been growing since the late nineties. Opposition teams were exhausted both physically and mentally with this playing style and many sides couldn't match us over the four quarters when we played this style.

Over the past two seasons, other sides have increased fitness levels and become more attacking in their structure. This is almost the opposite of the Swan approach and thus the Swans struggle to win on days when sides are playing with that pure attacking physicality (e.g. collingwood).

Clearly our style holds no surprises anymore for opposition, and given our aging list, we aren't as good at playing it anymore...

[Matty10]

I probably blame the players more than Roos for the poor effort. I mean we were within 4 points at the start of the 3rd Qtr - what we brought to the game cannot have been all bad. How we played over 4 Qtrs was the problem.

Having said that our kick-in strategy was hopeless - relying on Bevan to create from the defensive 50 was a nightmare. The idea that you don't drag players for individual mistakes is fine, but continuing to leave them in a position they are not skilfully qualified to maintain is negligent.

As for Buchanan - he would have been an asset against Collingwood if he ran hard (both ways) and played unselfish football (like he did against Melbourne), but if he served up his every-other-week performance he would not have altered the result.

Our players were just not desperate - and that is not the coach's fault (as an example, how many times did we kick to stationary players - who in turn did not run to 'meet' the ball - and were picked off... how many times did we fail to shepherd?).

[giant]

I probably blame the players more than Roos for the poor effort.

That sort of thinking won't wash here mate.

[swansrule100]

without reading all of this im not sure what else roosy could of done last night. He could of just swapped defenders and forwards around, but he had about 3 players playing decent footy out there. At the start of this year i think it was the right call to basically top up and have a tilt at the flag, it failed. Now instead of doing that again roosy must change something. Some of the younger players need decent match time, and some who havent kicked on need to go, we should be trying to trade for a decent midfielder and tall defender. But it is of course limited to what is available.

There is a chance to be a contender next year, but i think you would need 6-7 changes in personal from last night 22 and the gameplan needs work. Add a fit hall and kennelly back in makes a big difference as well.

But as i say roosy will blow it in my mind if he doesnt make changes now.